A trip to the High Country

As I said in my last blog, my grandmother is in town. She comes through Arizona every year with her manfriend in a motor home to watch the baseball Spring Training games. We've been hanging out a lot, and yesterday we went to Roosevelt Lake, AZ, about 2.5 hours NE of Phoenix. I didn't realize such a great lake was so close, but it was beautiful! (Click to enlarge.)

It still amazes me to see cactus growing just on the bank of a lake... I know they still need water to survive, but seeing huge Saguaros living somewhere other than the dry desert is pretty cool to see!


At the far end of the lake is the Roosevelt Dam, approved by Teddy Roosevelt in the early 1900's. It empties every few hours, and in order to keep traffic off the dam, a bridge was built, the Roosevelt Lake Bridge. Apparently it was painted light blue to "blend in" with the sky and water.



I'm not the biggest fan of dams... I mean I know they do a lot of good to humans, providing water for us, and electricity, but there are many controversies with wildlife and dams, especially along rivers where salmon frequent to spawn every year. Fish ladders just don't do the trick, and more and more salmon are dying. This not only destroys the salmon population, but the animals that eat the salmon as well, especially brown bears in Alaska. So I'm not all that "awed" about dams and their appearance. Yes, they do make for a beautiful lake on the other side, but I'd rather have a healthy ecosystem.

We took a 22-mile dirt road on the way back; a little different scenery than the way in. There were really some magnificent crags and canyons along the way. It was incredible.